Gaston Bachelard asserts that "all really inhabited space bears the essence of the notion of home." How does one define "home"? Is it a materially constructed shelter, or a psychological space that holds one's memories, imaginations, and, essentially, a space that "protects the daydreamer" (The Poetics of Space, 5)? Furthermore, what does it mean to exist in a "body"? And what does it feel like to be "at home" in a body? How does one traverse these inhabited spaces, both in public and in private? Or, how are spatial boundaries reinstated when the home and the body is misaligned? On the whole, we are seeking current scholarship that deals with the ways that we reside in the homes of our birth, or redefine and transform conceptual placements of embodied space.

About the Theme

The theme of the 2024 NEXUS Interdisciplinary Conference welcomes conversations regarding a multiplicity of home/body spaces and aims to gain a greater understanding of how to navigate our homes and ourselves when the rooting or grounding of this space is dichotomous with the bodies that we inhabit. Especially since coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, awareness of the physical self and the lived space are heightened, making this a particularly apt subject to examine. Questions of embodiment relate to many fields, such as rhetoric, anthropology, disability studies, gender and sexuality studies, philosophy, and existential phenomenology, to name a few.

Possible Proposal Topics

We welcome scholarship from a variety of academic disciplines ranging from the Humanities and Social Sciences to Arts and Architecture to Medicine, Psychology, and Environmental Science. We are seeking papers that deal with themes such as, but not limited to:

Domesticity
Interiority
Belonging / Community
Exile / Alienation
Diaspora / Migration
Colonization
Utopianism
Political science / Governmental structures
Homelessness
Marginalization
Care / Self-care
Performativity
Privacy

In addition to academic papers we also welcome creative work to be shared and discussed in a panel format. Creative submissions may include:

Multi-genre writing (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, hybrid)
Visual art
Video projects
Musical performances

Conference Information

Our goal is to approach our conference theme — an exploration of our relationships with the physical spaces and bodies that we call “home” — while fostering a home-like atmosphere for both academics and creatives. In addition to keynote speakers and academic and creative panels, we plan on offering off-site events such as “open mics” and/or art exhibits in order to encourage our attendees to actively connect with the Knoxville community — our home and the home of NEXUS. More information about off site events will be available closer to the date of the conference.

Submission Information

Please send abstracts of approximately 250-300 words as an attached PDF or Word document to: Nexus2024UTK@gmail.com by December 15, 2023. Please note: this conference will take place both in person and virtually. Therefore, be sure to indicate if you would prefer to present your work in person or virtually, and if your submission is scholarly or creative, in the body of the email.